Cohn and Blankfein have been bosom buddies since 1990, when Cohn was hired as a metals trader at Goldman and became ”Blankfein’s corporate problem solver” and in the 20-plus years since have taken family vacations together, hung out on weekends, and have gotten so tight that friendship bracelets wouldn’t be out of the question. The bond was only made stronger by weathering the financial crisis together, as a unit, like twins, in an Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito way. Still, you don’t get to be president of Goldman Sachs without being a somewhat ambitious person, and when you're the No. 2 at an organization, and the only thing standing between you and the No. 1 spot is your best friend who has no plans to retire, things can get awkward! As far back as 2012, sources were saying Cohn believed it was ”his time [to lead]” and last year someonetold The Wall Street Journal that shareholders didn’t have to worry about Blankfein’s cancer diagnosis, because Cohn had come a long way from being a tactless oaf and now had the polish to be the C.E.O. of a major bank.

But goddamn that Blankfein! He still hasn’t left, and with no signs of packing up his knick-knacks and getting out of there, Trump’s call may have come at the perfect time. According to a financial-services executive who spoke to the Hive, ”If the rumors are true, and they’re going to skip a generation and look to people like Harvey Schwartz when [the time comes to pick a Blankfein successor], this could be a way for [Gary] to make a graceful exit. It’s either this or retire in a few years and sit on a couple of boards.” Or taking the meeting could simply be a good way of making Lloyd jealous, giving him a little taste of what life would be like without ole Gar and his grundle around.